Cake Beginner - Xbox 360 Cake, Fondant ?s

I'm new here, and new to baking or decorating anything other than muffins or cupcakes lol, but my girlfriend's birthday is coming up (July 1st), and she really likes playing Xbox 360. I've gotten her a couple of gifts to go with her xbox and some things having to do with her favorite game.. but I saw a few pictures of Xbox 360 themed cakes and started asking around how I could make one.

Let me know if that should work, or if anyone has any input about that specific recipe.. I've never made it before so please let me know

I've already traced my Xbox onto a piece of cardboard and cut it out for the basic shape, also cut out all the small patterns for the buttons/plug slots, etc.

Here are some pics of what I'm going towards:

Here are some ideas I've read, but I'm looking for any better suggestions..

- Use rice crispies treats to shape the controller,- Candy for the controller buttons,- Upside down Hershey's Kisses for the joysticks,- Food Coloring 'Paste' rather than liquid?- Pizza Cutter for cutting fondant

I've never worked with fondant before, but I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to working with my hands so I think I could get the basics down. I'd like to have the sides gray like a real Xbox 360, so I was wondering how I could do that.. maybe cover the entire thing first with the gray, then lay the white over the top/front/back then trim any excess off the sides? Any suggestions on tools/supplies? I'd also like the cake to be sitting on something that looks nice as well.

Also, the top and sides have a TON of air holes for cooling, I was wondering if anyone has tips on getting straight lines to poke multiple rows of indentions/holes.

Sorry if I asked a ton of questions all at once, but I have a couple weeks now to practice and get ideas and all the supplies together I think she'll love it, even if it turns out nowhere near as great as I'm imagining haha. I think I'm going to use an actual game case and put white paper inside of it to make a custom card to sit next to the cake, any ideas are welcome! Thanks everyone!

well, you are brave! most people struggle with their first fondant cake. so just be prepared that it will take much longer than you think, more fonant than you think, and that the xbox may come out slightly wrinkly!

dont know much about making fondant, i buy it. if you havent worked with fondant before, go buy some now, so that you will know what your homemade stuff should be like. you might want to practice a bit too - either real cake, or anything square, so you can get used to corners.

your ideas: - Use rice crispies treats to shape the controller - yup, easiest way. cover rkt with bc or chocolate so that its smooth for the fondant.- Candy for the controller buttons, - yup, or colour balls of fondant.- Upside down Hershey's Kisses for the joysticks - yup, or again, blobs of fondant.- Food Coloring 'Paste' rather than liquid? - definatly, liquid colour messes with the texture of the fondant = big problems.- Pizza Cutter for cutting fondant - good for straight lines. a knife woud be better for doing the details i think.

i would actually do the xbox all in white, an add the greay panels. but i guess either way would work.

cake board - depending on the size of your cake, you could just buy a regular silver/ gold cake drum. you can also make your own - theres lots of posts on this. with regards to decorating the board, you can do alsorts, cover it in fondant, chocolate, coconut/ you can also use different kinds of papers -theres a lot about that in the diy board posts!

air holes - i would try not to worry too much. you could use a ruler to measure out equal spaces, id probaly just take a fork and work along a line.

I forgot to also ask how long the fondant can last being stored/ready to use, and the best way to store it?

Also, once I have the cake completely done, how long is it safe to store and the best way.

I'll stay up all night the night before her birthday if needed, but if possible, It would be less frustrating to make it a day or so in advance just in case I mess up, and in case I have to work early the morning of her birthday.

I still need to pick up some candy/coloring/rkt.. hmm.. trying to remember if I had any other questions lol, I've been watching videos on YouTube on covering square cakes with fondant, they use some sort of square block to smooth it out, would I be able to use something similar?

I might go practice making a little bit and just see how it turns out..

bought fondant comes with a use by date, home made stuff still lasts a good while. wrap it in clingfilm, store it in an air tight container, and it should stay soft.

the cake - once its all covered with bc and fondant, its good for a few days, ive hve one left out for 5 days that was just as good, and even more days after it was cut into. if your bc/ filing needs refridgerated, than of course, you need to keep it in the freezer. otherwise, jsut keep it coverd - cake tin, cling film, tin foil, whatever.

so you could make the cake over a couple of days - although if you live together, you will need to time it carefully to keep it hidden!

the tool you have seen is probably just a fondant smoother. you cant beat it, although you can just use your hand.xx

Got it all mixed together, sprinkled a little cornstarch on the counter and rolled it out.. kind of in a hurry so I didn't put enough corn starch, so a few little spots stuck, but I can tell that once I'm taking my time and be a little more careful it'll turn out better.

I sat a Swiss Roll snack cake box down on the counter and laid the fondant over it, it barely took any work to get even the corners and edges looking better than I would have imagined lol.

One corner messed up though, I had the fondant too thin

That was a smaller scale, so I'll need a larger counter/more corn starch next time, and be more careful on the thickness.. then the cake will also be 3x the size of that box, so I'll need to roll it over rather than picking it up and just laying it over it probably.

Balled it up, greased the outside of it, wrapped in plastic and put in a ziplock bag with as little air in it as I could.. it's in the fridge ready for when I need it

Going to make one more batch, if I make a batch next week, would it be fine to mix it in with this batch for a larger amount?

Wow, yes, you really are brave. I would say the best advice for someone as new as you is to go to youtube and watch lots of videos. For the fondant, type 'how to make marshmallow fondant" - that's the best recipe I've came acrossed, and easy because it's made with a mixer. But if you do use a mixer, make sure it's high powered, or you'll burn it up - that stuff is thick! Also, tonedna has tons of "how to" videos on youtube, and is also a member of cakecentral. Look her up - she's been a huge help to me.

can you just clarify what you mean by 'so I'll need to roll it over rather than picking it '. kinda reads like you mean rolling fondant out on top of the cake, which wont work. although hopefully you mean raping it over the rolling pin. although i did a big cake and couldnt do the rolling pin - picking it up with both arms worked better.

if the two batches of fondant follow the same recipe, yes you can blend them (even if they are different, it shouldnt be a problem). most fondant doesnt need kept in the fridge though. and i would be a bit worried that if you lend int he bit you have been rolling out, it will be drier. you can judge nearer the time though.xx

Oh yea, I meant wrapping it not actually rolling.. just it was kind of a large area of it and I didn't have anyone to help me lift it all at once. I'll have someone help me pick it all up when I get to the actual cake though.

i'll definitely check the oldest batch before mixing in a new batch, if it seems too dry i can add a little water correct? or just make a new batch?

A while back I was with her and her sister and they were looking for a cake to buy because they were just hungry for cake, and I kept hearing them say how they didn't like buttercream.. at the time I had no idea what that even was, but now that I'm doing my research and all to make a cake, I'm wondering what other cheap/easy alternative there is to buttercream that I could use, any suggestions?

Oh also.. trying to figure out what kind of cake she likes.. I asked her sister, waiting to hear back.. but I had this idea, that if she doesn't like any specific kind of cake, would it be possible to stack Swiss Rolls snack cakes into a rectangle and use it as a cake? She loves Swiss Rolls just not sure if that's possible, or would even taste good haha..

you could use ganache instead. theres not really much else - you could just use jam of some flavour, but your cake would need to be 110% perfect, or it will show through the fonant. homemade bc is different to shop stuff, plus, you could just do a really thin layer.

swiss roll cakes do work, but i dont think it would work for this kind of cake. and in the uk, they are just filled with bc! or a slightly different version, but close enough.xx

i think im gonna try using a thin layer, should be ok.. i think as long as it looks even slightly cool.. she'll love it LOL her sister said chocolate cake though. i need to go pick up the cake, some coloring, and some sort of icing/coloring pen things with a thin tip for writing. hopefully in neon green and black, for the xbox theme. also some more marshmallows and powdered sugar.. on a budget now though, so im trying to get it all ahead of time so i can still get her the gifts i really want to get her. really appreciate the help everyone!

Well I worked on the card today while she was at work..I added the party hat on the soldier, the balloons in the background in front of the helicopters, and the Happy Birthday..Got it printed on card stock and cut it to fit.. cut out the little round thing that holds the disc in place so that I could hot glue a color cd for looks, and hot glued (2 small dabs, so she can peel it off) the 1600 live points card in the center. Cut a piece of white card stock for the opposite side so that I can write something to her.. I like how it turned out.

she doesnt have to work monday or tuesday, which are the 2 days i was planning on doing all of this lol

i have nowhere to hide the cake if i made it earlier

so i'll have to wait till she leaves tuesday night, 11:00pm, and i'll only have up until i have to work at 6am

i do construction so i need a little sleep if possible, it's HOT here in FL.. but i will stay up the entire time if needed, i want to get it perfect

going to bake the cake in advance and cover it/hide it, already have enough fondant made to use for the sides and the little pieces that will be cut out and such.. but for the main white fondant to cover the entire thing, i'll make a fresh batch.

need an opinion though, for the gray sides.. would it be better to just spread gray frosting, or cut out gray fondant? ive only practiced that once with laying fondant over the cake, but not just sticking a piece to the side

I wish I had seen this post earlier, I just made a 360 cake for my hubby on fathers day!I colored some gray fondant and kind of placed it against the cake(top and bottom sections) to "measure" the shape. I cut the fondant into the shape i needed, making sure to leave a little extra to cut off AFTER I placed it on the cake(better to have too much than not enough fondant to cover the cake).

Unfortunately, my camera was destroyed while I was at the beach this weekend....my hubby decided to put it in the sand instead of my bag....

I covered the cake in white fondant first, but only on the main part of the cake....I didn't put white fondant on the gray sections.I actually didn't have time to make the controller, but I did make a game case with green fondant and an edible image(out of the game paper?)I have made a mushroom out of RKT....I crushed the rice krispies before adding to the mixture(made it a little more sturdy). You could Just leave it out on a counter, especially if no one will be eating it.

Oh also, any tips for writing with icing? I bought a small medicine syringe thing since it has a small tip, figured I could fill it with neon green icing and use it to write happy birthday, or trace the power button, etc.

Or you can use a ziplock freezer bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner, if you aren't able to buy tips, that is. If you are able to buy a few tips I would do it - you can get exactly the size you need.

definatly use the grey fonant for the sides. you will probably find different people have done it many different ways, so pick which ever seems easiest to you. but its easy to stick fondant to fondant - use water or edible glue.

i dont know how the medical syringe will go, but as mentioned you can just use a food bag. it probably wont be your neatest writing, it can take a bit of practice.

to store the controller, if you want to keep the fondant soft, i would wrap it in clingfilm, and stick it in a box. if you arent too worried about keeping it soft, any box will do, an airtight one will keep it softer.

as for hiding the cake, i would do it on the days you planned, and just tell her to stay out of the kitchen, and where ever you hide it, jut say stay out of that bit. leaving it til the very last night, and only getting a couple of hours sleep is a recipe for disaster.xx

All I have left now is the gray area on the bottom part that faces you (if i even do that part) and the front trigger buttons (just ran out of white since i started dying it all gray lol) but I'll have white when I make a batch for the console part of the cake. Also need to draw a neon green X on the center button, for the button I just mixed a little of the gray fondant with little pieces of white for a marbled type color so it looks like silver. I'm so anxious to give this to her, so hopefully it holds up well in the container and also inside 2 plastic bags hidden on the counter lol.

Started around 2PM, worked on it for an hour or so till she came over on her lunch break.. then I continued on it till 7PM, so 4 hours total LOL

Yea it's the first time I've ever made anything like this haha, I used to like sculpting and stuff in school but haven't done anything like it in years, especially edible LOL

Just hoping the actual cake part of it turns out good as well, the fondant was soo much easier to work with than I had expected.. I have the gray batch back in the fridge, gonna make the white when I have some extra time while she's working Saturday night.

This could be a great pictorial when you are finished. It does look great. I think for the cake you are just going to have to lock her out the kitchen so you dont end up getting super stressed on an all nighter.xx

NICE! I definitely gotta get the front trigger buttons added on, and maybe the gray strip on the bottom.. just was worried if I tried adding the strip, it might not look right if the gray sticks out rather than being flush. Thanks for the pics, hoping to get her console half of the cake to come out as nice as yours!